Jack Speer was one of the "founding dinosaurs"
of fandom. He was one of those who defined our history because he not
only helped shape it, he was the first to write it. Jack wrote "Up to
Now", the first real history of SF fandom in 1939. A few years later he
codified our "fanspeak" along with a lot more history when he wrote the
first Fancyclopedia in 1944. Jack's influential articles created the
idea of "numbered fandoms" by identifying key traits and changes in
various generations of fandom. He investigated and reported on feuds,
the Cosmic Circle and other contretemps as well.

"I'm very sorry to hear this, and I'm very grateful that we had a chance to honor Jack at Noreascon Four. He was an amazing, gentle, frighteningly bright, wonderful man, and he was a great guest."
—Deb Geisler, Chairman, Noreascon Four.